NEWS
Follow UsFormer India batter Suresh Raina will be up for grabs in the Lanka Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction, held in Colombo on Wednesday (June 14). The southpaw will go under the hammer at a base price of USD 50,000. Raina, who is one of the most successful players in the Indian Premier League (IPL), will not be the first Indian to participate in the tournament though. The Pathan brothers - Yusuf and Irfan have previously turned up for Kandy Tuskers.
The five-team tournament will kick-start from July 31 onwards. Raina, who has played 205 matches in the IPL, mainly for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with whom he won the title on four occasions, is the fifth-highest run-getter in the tournament, with 5,528 at a strike-rate of 136.73. He also has 39 fifties and a century to his name.
While announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket, Raina had mentioned that T20 franchises from Sri Lanka, South Africa and the UAE had gotten in touch with him. He also expressed his intentions of playing the game for at least 2-3 more years.
For an Indian cricketer to play overseas leagues, the player has to step away from playing in any BCCI-organised tournaments including the IPL, and other domestic tournaments like the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Other than Yusuf and Irfan, some Indian players like U-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand and Harmeet Singh have also taken a similar route. In fact, Unmukt who has shifted base to the US has already featured in foreign leagues like the Big Bash League (BBL) and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
